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Last week we had our kickoff event and it was so entertaining! The game was finally revealed and we are looking forward to our 1st competition at Kettering University at the very end of February and beginning of March!Here is the points our team can get this season:Cross Hab Line (Level 1) 3ptsCoss Hab Line (Level 2) 6ptsAttach Panel (No points for null panels) 2pts eachPlace in Bay 3pts eachClimb Platform (Level 1) 3ptsClimb Platform (Level 2) 6ptsClimb Platform (Level 3) 12ptsEarn 15 HAB bonus pts 1 Ranking Point6 panels & 6 Cargo in Rocket 1 Ranking PointWin 2 Ranking PointsTie the match A Ranking Point

There are also awards our team can get as well from the following:Sandstorm 1 (auto)Sandstorm 2 (auto)Hatch PanelCargo(3) HAB BonusHAB DockingA Complete RocketWin MatchTie MatchHere is the Max amount of points we could get.20 Hatches= 40pts20 Bays= 60ptsSandstorm= 15ptsHAB Bonus= 36ptsThis means in a match, the max points is 151.

In other news, This week we worked on our business plan by talking about what we did in our past seasons and what we are looking forward to this season.​

Since October, we had sign ups for people who were interested, we split into teams, (Business, Media, Build,etc.) and no one really knows what the build team has done, except the Build Team. Also, the Business team had its Sponsor Drive in St.Johns on November 18. We are still accepting sponsors until February 1st, 2019. Just click the “Sponsor Us” link on the top of the page.We are so excited for the 2019 season and can’t wait until the Kickoff event on January 5th, 2019!Here is the district events we are going to in 2019:District 1: Kettering University: 1700 University Ave, Flint, MI 48504 District 2: Lake Superior State University: 650 W Easterday Ave, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783When we make it to states: Saginaw Valley State University: 7400 Bay Rd, University Center, MI 48710When we make it to worlds: Cobo Hall: 1 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226Hoping for another good year!

The programming team has finally been able to start running code with the robot. While doing this, the build team is fixing problems as they arise. Their hard work is starting to come together!

Our business team has fully updated the Business Plan.

The business and media teams worked to finish some smaller things like sponsor shoutouts and updating the website.

The team is getting more excited and more stressed as bag day is coming closer. Our first event is only four weeks away! There is still a lot to do, but the Marauderbots are a group of hard working and dedicated students. Anything can be done in this team!

The business team started out their day with editing the team's Business Plan. At the same time, Kennedy was designing our team t-shirts and logo (which look amazing, by the way!). As always, the build and programming teams spent the day in the Robotics room working on our bot.

After lunch, Mr. Topping led us all outside to show us a big surprise the mentors had been hiding. We got our own personalized trailer!! After receiving a grant from the Ovid-Elsie Community Fund, we purchased an enclosed trailer for our bot. With the remaining money from the grant, Edgewraps wrapped it. It looks amazing, and it shows how much we've grown in our five years.

This season's team captains were announced. Congratulations everyone!

Our Chairman's Award committee was selected. The Chairman's Award is the most prestigious award in FIRST. The winner is a team that judges decide is a good model for other teams to follow, so the team must be an example of everything FIRST values. A group of three students will present to a set of judges, and their presentation must include everything about our team and what we stand for. Good luck to the six students who will help prepare for this.

On the build side of things, the lift mechanism was finished. The build team works together almost every day to meet the bot deadline, which is about six weeks from kickoff.

Towards the end of the meeting, the full team got together to work on scouting for our events.

These weekend meetings may be long, but they're very beneficial to the team. A lot of work can get done if the full team is working together in the same place and at the same time.

The Marauderbots held the 2018 kickoff on January 6th at Ovid-Elsie High School. After watching the livestream that revealed what the 2018 game would be, we split off into teams to dig deeper into the game manual. The entire team then regrouped so all team members informed about the rules of the game. Next, game plans! Everyone in the team (students, mentors, and parents) took part in a long discussion on how we were going to make this season's bot. We decided on what our full team's priorities were and discussed gameplay. Then the actual design started, and our build team started their job about a week later. ​In the middle of kickoff, we held our annual 50/50 Raffle drawing. We want to give a huge thank you to everyone who bought a ticket for our team. Your support makes events like this possible.